Microbial Engineering and Transplantation Core (Core C). ABSTRACT: The overall goals of the Microbial Engineering and Transplantation Core are to maintain and develop bacterial strains, including model synthetic communities, and provide complex polymicrobial communities for transplantation, as well as to assist in all aspects of gnotobiotic reconstitution (microbial transplantation) studies for Project Investigators. All projects in this PPG involve transplantation of native or genetically manipulated bacterial species, either singly, as polymicrobial communities, and/or synthetic bacterial communities harboring selective metabolite-producing capabilities (or functional deletion mutants) into germ-free mice (i.e. gnotobiotic reconstitution). Anaerobic culturing and microbial engineering, as well as germ-free mouse derivation, maintenance, and microbial transplantation, are all complex features of intricate experiments that require specialized expertise, and infrastructure. The Microbial Engineering and Transplantation Core will provide all of these services to investigators of this PPG. The microbial culturing and engineering component of the Core will assist investigators with centralized anaerobic culturing capabilities for both in vitro metabolic/biochemical, and in vivo microbial transplantation studies. Each Project will also draw on this core for its expertise and assistance with genetic engineering of human commensals as needed. The gnotobiotics component of this core will assist all Projects in performance of gnotobiotic reconstitution studies, and their interface with cardiometabolic phenotyping studies (in Core D).